Archive for the 'Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads' Category

GREENS WELCOME REPAIRS ON RAILWAY BRIDGE

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on September 3, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Ballynahinch/Spa, Cadogan Enright, Crossgar, Mark McCormick and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments

Mark McCormick and Cllr Enright at railway bridge, originally uploaded by downgreenparty.

Down Green Party Councillor Cadogan Enright has welcomed the news that Roads Service has undertaken maintenance work on the stone-built railway bridge on the road to Crossgar out of Ballynahinch.

Local Green Party coordinator Mark McCormick said, “Pedestrians approaching the bridge from the Ballynahinch side found find that the pathway opened up into a sudden 14ft drop owing to the failure to upkeep the parapet. The pathway on the Crossgar side also led to an 8ft drop where the parapet has been side-swiped by an articulated lorry and this area was used for drinking.”

“I contacted the Roads Service and demanded immediate repairs as someone could easily have been killed or seriously injured. I have since received news that work has been undertaken to improve the state for the bridge and fix the existing damage. I welcome this announcement and thank the persons responsible for their work”, said Mr McCormick.

Cllr Enright commended Mark McCormick for following up on this issue over the last few months and thanked local Green Party member Kenneth Martin for highlighting the situation.

“It is vital that we conserve our railway heritage as all over Ireland and Britain old railways are being revived and restored. The Green Party in Government in the Republic of Ireland has played a part in reactivating the Cork to Cobh line, Limerick to Ennis and Galway lines, the Dublin to Naas line and appears to have succeeded in keeping the west coast interconnector from Cork all the way up to Sligo with a feasibility study to connect Donegal town to Derry.

“If we preserve the railway infrastructure in County Down we keep open the possibility of our own railways being reopened in the future” concluded Cllr Enright.

GREENS CALL FOR CROSSROADS OBSTRUCTION TO BE REMOVED

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on September 3, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Cadogan Enright, Dunmore, John Hardy, Mark McCormick, Planning issues and illegal development and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments

Cllr Enright and John Hardy at Dunmore crossroads, originally uploaded by downgreenparty.

The Green Party has called for a remaining wall which has been causing obstruction at the Dunmore Road and Magherahamlet Road crossroads to be removed to avoid any further accidents, following a serious crash in the past week.

Cllr Enright explained, “We had previously campaigned with planning enforcement to have a derelict building on the site which had been causing traffic problems to be removed, but it seems that while the rest of the house was demolished, a significant section of wall remains and this continues to block the sightlines of road users approaching the crossroads from the Spa direction.

Local Green Party coordinator Mark McCormick said “It took over 18 months of pressure from the Green Party for the original ruin to be demolished, and it had been there for 10 years. We hope it wont take the same amount of time to have the wall demolished as it is a serious hazard.

“The remaining bit of wall caused disruption to the recent successful sheep dog trials as it was unsafe for large numbers of vehicles to be emerging from the crossroads and it was only due to the utmost vigilance from the organisers and road users that accidents were avoided. However, in the past few days there has been a serious accident between two lorries and this highlights the need for action to be taken straight away.”

Cllr Enright concluded “I will be pursuing this matter with the Planning Service and with Roads Service to ensure it is taken care of with urgency. In the mean time I ask road users to continue to use caution at the crossroads.”

The following photos show the scene of the recent crash at the crossroads:

dunmore crash2

dunmore crash1

DOWNPATRICK CUT-OFF AND UNDERWATER

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on August 26, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Cadogan Enright, Council, Downpatrick and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments

Cadogan Enright, originally uploaded by downgreenparty.

Downpatrick and Lecale Councillor Cadogan Enright attended the launch of the new town Master plan last week. Cllr Cadogan Enright said “There are some excellent points in the plan like the acceptance that “in-town” shopping needs to be developed around the bus-station, and that the proposed ring-road needs to go around the east and the south of the town. I have campaigned for these points in the past to ensure the sustainable development of the town going forward. It is essential that our infrastructure is developed to allow us to be one of the towns where public sector jobs can be outsourced. We have been ruled out as not meeting the criteria for decentralisation of jobs as we stand”.

The Downpatrick Green Party councillor continued, “However there are some really awful bloopers in the plan that you would have expected the DSD to have picked up on, especially when local people, including myself, had pointed them out in the consultation process.”

“The plan envisages building on half the flood-plain and flooding the other half and reclaiming a large part of Downpatrick Marsh for sports fields. This will potentially expose the town to great danger in the future. Downpatrick is already the lowest-lying town in Ireland with the centre almost half a meter below sea-level. Removing the flood-plain is a really bad idea, and professional planners should know better”, said councillor Enright.

Councillor Enright pointed out that there were issues with transport links too. “It is alarming to say the least that the A25/B8 to Newry is not shown in the plan as a primary link for the future. Without the A25/B8 and the direct buses to Dublin Airport noted we relegate ourselves to a suburb of Lisburn/Belfast rather than an important regional centre in Ireland as a whole. Instead the plan shows the dreadful B177 to Lisburn as one of our main two strategic corridors. Clearly our 3 main roads are A24, A7 and the A25/B8. The overall diagram on page seven looks like one written by someone from Belfast unaware of the districts links with Newry and Mourne and unfamiliar with the fact that the A25/B8 carries a lot of our private sector traffic and compares with the A7 and Ballynahinch Road (B24) for public sector traffic.”

“The Town seems to be in the process of losing its direct bus connections to Dublin and Dublin Airport with hardly a comment. These have one of the greatest concentrations of Tourist traffic in Western Europe. The seven million tourists who arrive at these locations annually are exactly the sort of Tourist that would be drawn to “St Patrick”, “The Mountains of Mourne” or any of our outdoor attractions”, said Cllr Enright.

Cllr Enright pointed out a number of other smaller errors or omissions too. “Examples include;
1. The railway society secured lottery funding for the new link to the St Patrick’s centre, and this is shown in the Master Plan – but the council has inexplicably gone cold on this idea since the SDLP voted against it and the Railway society was forced to return the money to the National Lottery. If we show the link, then we need to support the Railway society in achieving it.
2. Northern Ireland Water seems determined to put their new sewerage pumping station in the middle od the car-park at the back of the post-office, if they do this the plan for the in-town shopping centre will be stymied. I have repeatedly brought this up at the Downpatrick area meetings and have had cross party support – but NI Water persist with the proposal.
3. There are no timelines pencilled into the plan, with no figures calculated even in draft, and vague references to short-term, medium-term and long-term for which no definitions exist within the report. If the plan is to happen it needs to be believable.

Councillor Cadogan Enright Concluded “The Master Plan envisages the biggest changes to the natural environment since the creation of the Quoile barrier, the draining of the Lough or the new Belfast Road. No process to deliver an environmental impact statement is envisaged in the report, nor are issues dealing with changes in weather patterns addressed –vital to a town whose centre is almost half a meter below sea-level.”

GREEN PARTY OBJECT TO PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT ON MOSS ROAD

Published
by
John Hardy
on August 19, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Ballynahinch/Spa, Mark McCormick, Planning issues and illegal development, Pollution, Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads and Wildlife/Trees/Nature
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Local Green Party Co-ordinator Mark McCormick

Local Green Party Co-ordinator Mark McCormick

Green Party Local cordinator Mark McCormick has objected to a proposal for a housing development in the Moss Road area of Ballynahinch on the following grounds:

•The Moss Road is used as a rat run and already struggles to cater for the heavy traffic it is subjected with. If 35 dwellings are going to be built on this road how does the developer expect to have heavy machinery and building equipment moved up and down the road and how will residents trying to enter and exit their properties cope with this? Carlisle’s Fresh Foods and the playing fields also mean that this road is used for parking on both sides making it difficult for even one car to make its way along the road. This leads to congestion and it has become so bad that residents have complained there are days they cannot even have their bins emptied as the bin lorry cannot even make it down the road. This shows that there is simply no road network infrastructure to deal with an additional housing development on the Moss Road. The road would have to be extended yet there is no scope as to how this will be done in the application. The application simply states it will widen the road but has not made clear as to where and how this will be done.

•There is currently no access to this site from the Moss Road yet the application proposes the Moss Road as a potential access. The drop from the Moss Road to this site is almost 3 metres so if a site access was to be created an area of the site would have to be raised to this height. Doing this will cause massive disruption to traffic and access to properties of existing residents and I have already highlighted the already existing problems of congestion, in which this will only add to.

•The proposed dwellings are meant to fit into the character of the existing area yet these houses are all set to be two stories. There are no two storey houses on the Moss Road and even on the Belfast Road and so I would dispute that these developments will fit into the character of the area.

•The Moss Road is a north facing road and in the winter the ice does not thaw making the road extremely dangerous. Increasing more traffic on this road will increase the risk of accidents and massively reduce road safety. Also the proposed entrance to the development is close to a bend so any cars that get caught in the ice and unable to break will be heading straight for this entrance which could lead to collisions.

•The playing fields next to this site use to be the town dump which was covered over in the late 1960s. This dump was never cleared and so waste and polluting discharges are currently seeping into the stream and marshes on the proposed site via a drainage pipe. Although it is not the responsibility of the Planning Service to deal with the pollution it is certainly worth noting that this pollution will have an effect on the land the developments would be built on and would be a persistent problem and health threat to any residents in the proposed dwellings.

Pollution from spring at Moss Road site

Pollution from spring at Moss Road site

•The field is prone to flooding and rain water from the Moss Road flows down into the south west of the site. This has not been considered in the planning application and I note that the proposed Bio Disc sewage system is to be positioned at the south west corner of the site. The Bio Disc system would therefore be in an unsuitable location.

•The Down Ards Area Plan 2015 has highlighted a number of other areas in Ballynahinch suitable for housing which have not been developed yet. These are the areas where housing developments should be sought, not in an area such as this application where there are a number of factors making it unsuitable. There are already many empty houses in Ballynahinch town and new estates built on the Riverside Road.

•Prior to the PAC decision, removing this area from the LLPA, it was stated that the area was in the interests of nature conservation and facilitated wildlife linkages within urban and wider countryside areas. How has this changed? The development of this site will destroy any wildlife and nature that is of priceless value to this area. The Moss Road is known for the beautiful view over this site and the drumlin landscape of Ballynahinch. Destroying this character area and green field site will damage the value of the houses on the Moss Road and the very identity of the landscape reducing house prices and living quality of all.

•It is clear that there are many problems with this site and planning application and I do not feel the applicant has properly analysed the plausibility of this site. This is clearly evident in the fact that the applicant has spelt Ballynahinch wrongly as ‘Ballinahinch’ throughout the plans showing that this was a rushed job and the full considerations of the site and residents of the Moss Road have not been taken into account.

GREEN PARTY CALLS FOR CYCLE LANES IN NEWCASTLE

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on August 11, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, John Hardy, Newcastle and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments

John Hardy , originally uploaded by downgreenparty.

The Green Party is calling for the Council to address the lack of cycle lanes on Newcastle’s Main Street by introducing a bike-specific lane on the town’s promenade.

Local Green Party coordinator John Hardy explained that when the Main Street in Newcastle was adjusted to become a one-lane system a bike lane was introduced which encouraged the use of bicycles in the town. However, when the street was returned to two-lane traffic, the bicycle lane was removed and no alternative was introduced.

“At the same time, the opening of the new promenade has resulted in cyclists using the area to avoid the main street. While this is understandable, there is no specific area for cyclists on the promenade and so there have been reports of people being hit or obstructed by bikes and it is causing a safety risk” he said.

He continued “We shouldn’t expect cyclists to have to use the Main Street given the widespread disregard for bicycle users from some motorists. Nor should they be banned from using the promenade when no alternative cycle lane exists. We are proposing the introduction of a cycle lane on the promenade. This will enable them to cycle along the promenade on a certain route and will mean that pedestrians will know where to expect cyclists.”

Cllr Cadogan Enright concluded “The lack of a cycle lane in Newcastle is due to the lack of an all-encompassing transport plan for Newcastle which recognises the advantages of cycling. There needs to be a pro-cycling strategy from the Council. People still cant believe that the cycle-lane was removed last year and this is clearly going in the opposite direction to policies across Ireland, the UK and Europe.”

To read the press cutting click here

GREEN PARTY WORKING WITH KILCLIEF COMMUNITY FOR 30MPH SPEED LIMITS

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on July 23, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Kilclief and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments

Photograph shows from left Eamonn Quinn, Kilclief concerned resident, with Cllr Cadogan Enright, Pat Ward of Rural Community Network NI and Bill Corry Lecale Green Party Chairman

Green Party Councillor Cadogan Enright hit out at a letter from a Sinn Fein supporter in last weeks Down Recorder that Sinn Fein has a monopoly on community activism in Kilclief.

Cllr Cadogan Enright said, “At the last local elections the Kilclief and Downpatrick electoral areas voted in councillors from three different parties including the Green Party. Nobody has a monopoly on representing the people in Kilclief. Simply because the Sinn Fein Minster is saying that Kilclief does not qualify as it is only 400 meters long is no reason to give up at the first hurdle. The facts are wrong and the regulations are inappropriate in this instance. The distance between the Old Rectory and the Church is almost a kilometre.”

“I was pleased to be able to assist local people in their campaign to get a 30mph zone and feel that other parties need to put the community first when campaigning on such issues and not seek narrow political advantage. Other traffic calming measures are also required, especially at the crossroad of Glebe Road with Bishops Court Road.”

Cllr Enright continued, “The Green Party believes that the best way to get things done for people in the Kilclief, Lecale Coast and Downpatrick areas is for all three parties to campaign for the benefit of the community on any issue regardless of political persuasion. It doesn’t matter whose minister is blocking progress if we all pull together for the benefit of local people. I am surprised that Sinn Fein supporters would be seeking to go their own way on seeking a thirty mile per hour limit for Kilclief only two weeks after they were criticising the SDLP for doing the same thing on the campaign to save the Downe Hospital.”

“I have personally witnessed the measurement of the road from Glebe House to the Cross roads and it exactly 818 metres – not the 400 metres suggested by the department. Furthermore the section of the Bishops Court Road in Kilclief is also 610 metres long. We have drawn up a map for local residents which will be used to back up local peoples contention that they easily meet the 600 metre criteria for road frontage to obtain a 30mph speed limit or other traffic calming measures,” concluded Cllr Enright.

GAP ON RAILWAY BRIDGE EXPOSES 14 FOOT DROP DANGER TO PEDESTRIANS

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on February 19, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Ballynahinch/Spa, Cadogan Enright, Pat Ward and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments

Green Party members Kenneth Martin, Cllr Cadogan Enright and Pat Ward under the railway bridge.

Down Green Party Councillor Cadogan Enright expressed grave concern at the manner in which the Roads Service is failing to upkeep the stone-built railway bridge on the road to Crossgar out of Ballynahinch.

Cllr Cadogan Enright said, “Pedestrians approaching the bridge from the Ballynahinch side will find that the pathway opens up into a sudden 14ft drop owing to the failure to upkeep the parapet. The pathway on the Crossgar side also leads to an 8ft drop where the parapet has been side-swiped by an articulated lorry. This area is also used for rough drinking.”

“I have contacted the Roads Service and demanded immediate repairs as someone could easily be killed or seriously injured. Furthermore I have contacted Community Police officers regarding the drinking problem,” said Cllr Enright.

Cadogan Enright argued for the preservation of local railway lines. He said, “Local Green Party members have managed to persuade the Roads Service to remove ivy and stop trees growing into the stonework of the bridge. However we have concerns that the Roads Service may see this unique part of our railway heritage and infrastructure as expendable maybe as part of the Ballynahinch bypass proposals. This would be entirely unacceptable, as throughout Britain, Ireland and in Europe as a whole there is a clear planning imperative to preserve the railway infrastructure and not to build on railway lines as more and more railways are coming back into operation. In the Down District we have already seen for a track to be built on in Crossgar, we cannot compound this problem by demolishing railway bridges as well.”

“Whatever the long term plans the Roads Service has a duty to maintain this bridge in a manner that does not present a threat to life and limb,” concluded Green Party Cllr Cadogan Enright.

Press Cuttings: 'Railway bridge gap exposes 14ft drop,' warns Greens.

GREEN PARTY CONDEMNS THE ROADS SERVICE FOR “WAITING FOR AN ACCIDENT TO HAPPEN” IN LISTOODER.

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on February 19, 2010
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Barbara Haig, Cadogan Enright, Listooder and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments

Photograph shows how barely 3 people can stand along the width of the road. Local Green Party members Barbara Haig (R) and Michael Mann (L) with Jeanetta Harper in the middle and Green Party Councillor Cadogan Enright at rear.

The Green Party has been campaigning to have street lighting installed at a ‘rat run’ linking the Ballynahinch / Crossgar Road through the village of Listooder to the Belfast / Crossgar Road. Children and the older generation use this road regularly when getting off the bus at the top of this road and walk down into Listooder.

Green Party Councillor Cadogan Enright said “The Green Party are concerned as this piece of road is particularly dangerous during the winter months and darker evenings when school children, the elderly and Listooder locals have to walk down this road with no lighting or illumination and no footpath or verges to walk on with room for only one car to pass at a time”.

Cadogan Enright said “I have written to the Department for Regional Development (DRD), responsible for street lighting, expressing my concerns on this matter. I received a reply stating that this road does not meet the criteria for getting street lighting. I was told that the road must have a significant accident history before being considered. I feel this is a completely unacceptable response in which local people have simply been told that they have to wait for someone to be seriously injured or worse before they can even be considered.”

Local resident Jeanetta Harper said “I was totally stunned at the department’s reply saying that there had not been enough serious accidents or not enough development on Listooder Road to warrant the street lights being brought up a bit further to the bus stop. I feel that Listooder is being discriminated against. I have heard that plenty of work is carried out in rural areas, Drumaness got approximately 22 lights installed and Brennans garage area got extra lights recently.”

“Firstly there is not enough room for 10 houses they require on this small bit of road leading from the bus stop on the hill past the Orange Hall down to the village. Secondly saying that they are waiting for an accident to happen on a road which is a rat run for Ballynahinch is TRULY unbelievable. There isn’t even a footpath and the road is only one car width at the junction with the main road. When I am cutting grass outside my house (which I believe is the responsibility of DARD) I have had many close shaves,” said Jeanette Harper.

Councillor Enright concluded, “I created a petition for local residents in which they were able to collect the signatures of over 70 local people in protest of this response from the DRD. We sent this to the DRD and still they have refused to act. Listooder has grown considerably in the past 20 years, vehicles travel up to the main road. Lights and a footpath are seriously needed. I am seeking an on-site inspection with the officials concerned”.

Press Cuttings: Listooder road safety concerns.

RUSSIAN ROULETTE AT THE DUNMORE CROSSROADS

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on May 13, 2009
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, Ballynahinch/Spa, Cadogan Enright, Dunmore, Pat Ward, Planning issues and illegal development and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments

Photograph shows Green Party Councillor Cadogan Enright and Green Party Co-ordinator Pat Ward at the Dunmore / Magherahamlet Crossroads.

DOWN District Green Party Councillor Cadogan Enright has expressed his concern at the dangers posed to people using the Dunmore Road and Magherahamlet Road Crossroads.

Currently a derelict building, which should have been removed ten years ago after a replacement dwelling was built, is blocking the sightlines of road users approaching the crossroads from the Spa direction.

Cllr Enright said, “The sightlines should have been amended around ten years when the old building on the crossroads was to be removed before a new replacement dwelling was erected. On visiting this junction it concerns me that the old building is still in place and dangerously blocking the sight lines to emerging traffic at the crossroads. If this old building is removed, as it should have been, I believe the problems and dangers of this junction could be rectified.”

Cllr Enright has been told by the Planning Office that the Roads Service and Planning Service are currently corresponding to have this issue rectified.

Cllr Enright said, “I have written to the Planning Service on two occasions and also raised the issue with local PSNI officers. I can confirm that the Planning Service is currently carrying out an assessment of our request to have the derelict building removed which I welcome however I am concerned at the length of time this process is taking. Local people have had to wait over ten years for this issue to be resolved and I think it is a miracle that no one has been killed yet on these crossroads.”

The crossroads in question has contributed to several previous road accidents which have left people seriously injured. To date there has been no fatalities however local people believe it will only be a matter of time before a tragedy comes about.

Cllr Enright concluded, “Currently when approaching theses crossroads from the Spa direction it is like playing a game of ‘Russian Roulette’. I have expressed my concerns to the Planning Service and hope that enforcement and addressing the issue is forthcoming before someone else gets hurt.”

Press Cuttings: Dangerous bend prompts appeal, Green Councillor hits out at 'dangerous' crossroads

NEW PUBLIC LANEWAY FOR KILLOUGH LEAFLET

Published
by
Cadogan Enright
on May 2, 2009
in 1. GREEN PRESS RELEASES / LATEST NEWS, 8. LEAFLETS & NEWSLETTER DOWNLOADS, Cadogan Enright, Killough and Traffic/Rat Runs/Roads
. 0 Comments


 
Click on the image to see a larger size of the letter to constituents.
 
To see the back page of this letter showing the map of the new public laneway follow this link – http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4484259150_ff913c99d2_b.jpg